We’re living through a golden age of fantasy television. Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power welcomed us back to Middle-earth canon, House of the Dragon proved that Game of Thrones is still appointment television, while His Dark Materials, The Witcher, and Wheel of Time showcased the breadth of the genre. But one show missed its place in the sun: Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Arriving a few years too early, the wildly creative series – a prequel to Jim Henson and Frank Oz-directed 1982 fantasy classic – had its supporters. Yet, despite having a stacked voice cast (including Anya Taylor-Joy, Taron Egerton, and Mark Hamill) and focusing on the Gelfling rebellion against the evil bird-like Skeksis, Age of Resistance was unceremoniously dumped by the streamer after just one season. That’s no shock when you consider just how many shows Netflix has cancelled too soon, but if any series deserves a second shot, especially in a time when fantasy is in vogue, it’s Dark Crystal.
Fire up the series for the first time and you will be immediately struck by the show’s incredible visuals. Fantasy has always been about world building. Age of Resistance goes beyond that, combining intricate puppetry and craftsmanship to create an entire planet packed with tiny details that are just deep as what’s been seen more recently in Westeros and Middle-earth.
Each location, from the arid ruins of the Circle of the Suns to the dark, foreboding corridors of the Castle of the Crystal are all practical and designed with the story in mind. Even if you aren’t familiar with the franchise, every shot creates the impression of a lived-in world that is slowly being sapped of its energy by the Skeksis. From the show’s opening moments, you’ll want this it to be saved by the Gelflings, making the planet’s inevitable downfall that much more tragic.
Still, it’s the sort of lavish production that sadly may have set alarm bells ringing at Netflix HQ. The series is a love letter to the work of the Henson Creature Company and its team of puppeteers (who have over 100 creations at their disposal), making for a long overdue throwback to the sort of earthy fantasy that has been lost to CGI and green screens.
One of Age of Resistance’s most overlooked qualities is how it hits a fantasy sweet spot that the genre rarely gets right. For all the questions it posed about Sauron’s identity, The Rings of Power is fairly toothless with its peril, and a few too many death fakeouts by its finale. House of the Dragon swings too far the other way, often revelling in its mature themes to the point of stopping just short of misery porn. Three words: Larys foot fetish.
The Dark Crystal series’ Saturday morning aesthetics may obscure its darker undertones, but it’s a neat sleight of hand that allows the show to poke and prod at more mature themes without feeling too overwhelming.
Environmentalism, dictatorships, and classism are all an organic by-product of Thra’s living, breathing world. Couple that with some genuinely unsettling imagery (yes, the corrupted Skeksis remain nightmare fuel) and it all feels, in the best possible way, like a terrifying, rich relic that belongs to the same canon as Pan’s Labyrinth or Studio Ghibli’s more fantastical works. Is it suitable for kids? Not quite – and that’s a good thing. Fantasy is always at its best operating in that unsettling grey area.
Then there are the characters, either effortlessly easy to root for or born of the camp, scenery-chewing evil of which all great villains are made of. For the briefest time, the internet fell in love with Deet, the Nathalie Emmanuel-voiced nature lover with more than a touch of hobbit (and harfoot) DNA. The princess Rhea (Anya Taylor-Joy) taps into fantasy’s rich history of royal rebels, and the ancient Aughra is part-comic relief, part-mystic guide that harkens back to Tolkien’s more mysterious First Age writings.
On the flip side, the cackling Skeksis are the perfect foil for Age of Resistance’s ragtag band of heroes, as the scheming Chamberlain (Simon Pegg) and decaying Emperor (Jason Isaacs) seek to consolidate power at all costs. No spoilers in case you’re going to dive into the show, just know that it all comes to a head on both sides in a thrilling, tense showdown that was cruelly left open for a second season of these characters’ journeys.
Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is that rare thing: a reinvention of a beloved classic that surpassed the original. Thanks to the dedication to its craft, the world and its characters remain sorely missed by those who experienced it on Netflix the first time round. Those who are yet to experience it have a treat waiting for them.
Maybe, just maybe – in a TV landscape littered with revivals – Dark Crystal can get a second chance. Netflix, for one thing, will be sorely in need of another franchise to bolster its lineup once Stranger Things draws to a close. With fantasy stories once again tapping into the zeitgeist, it may yet be time for one of the past decade’s most underrated shows to make a comeback.
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